With the recent introduction of cloud-based technology, more reliable fast Internet connections, and advanced security protocols, there is now greater acceptance of home-based contact center agents who operate remotely from a standard office environment. In other words, rather than a contact center (or call center) housing dozens or even hundreds of agents who all make and receive telephone calls from that location, and agent is now able to work from home (or from another location outside of the supervision in a contact center) using his or her own (or company supplied) computer.
While operating out of a home (or other location) outside of the supervision found in a contact center, an agent is able to make and receive telephone calls using telephony software that may not be within the scope of their employment, i.e., personal telephone calls. Understandably, control of these telephony costs and agent productivity can be problematic for a company; vigilance of agents and after-the-event analysis is common practice and sometimes required.
Currently, an agent logs into the telephony software himself or herself using any computing device connected to the Internet and is then able to take or make any telephone calls, or perform other defined activity. Because the agent is not in a contact center and is unsupervised, there is no way to restrict the agent's access to the telephony software in order to manage his or her scheduled activity or to manage telephony costs. Supervision of this agent activity and controlling access to the telephony software can be problematic. Accordingly, new techniques and systems are desired to address these problems.